These threads started with this Tour of Taipei:
Now I am bringing to you the ultimate Tour de Taipei:
Route name: Tour de Taipei (goated) Tour de Taipei (goated) - Strava link
Start point: You can start anywhere along the route.
End point: Wherever you started.
Traffic level: Low for most of the mountain roads. There are a few km of urban riding.
Main climb(s): Oh boy, where to start
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* Taipei City University of Science and Technology. The climb is short but it has some steep sections. Be aware, the descend is very steep.
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* Main climb This climb includes bastards like Fuxing 3rd Road and the infamous Goat Road. The Goat Road is barely cyclable but fully walkable. No shame in walking (but see below). A wiser alternative is to go to the Flower Clock to climb Zhongxing Road, but you will be breaking the spirit of the route.
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Helen’s Steep Yep, I ignored the steep climb towards Lengshuikeng. Helen is a b***h of 20%, but after the Goat Road everything else is barely uphill.
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After Helen there are 3 smaller climbs. The first two have moderate gradients while the third one to the graveyard is quite mild.
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政大威秀~草湳橋 This was my second to last climg an by now anything higher than a 10% is painful. I did this at night and I had dogs coming towards me. Luckily the owner was there.
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Maokong East. I thought this one was going to be very steep (I never did this section before) but it was much better than I was expecting. I still was zigzaging big time.
Total estimated distance: 127km
Total estimated elevation gain: 2500m
Max elevation: 800m
Difficulty: Advanced
Description: The rules for this route were to ride as close as possible to the Taipei-New Taipei border without trespassing (at least not for any significant distance). U-turns were not allowed, i.e. no riding the same road twice. It happens to be that some of the roads required to obey the rules are crazy bonkers.
VERY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER ABOUT THE GOAT ROAD. PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU GO THERE. This is a VERY steep road. The steepest part probably goes close to 30%. The Goat Road can be skipped by doing the Flower Clock climb. If you do this route anticlockwise, I strongly suggest to avoid the Goat Road. Descending that on a road bike is not a pleasant experience and can be dangerous. If there aren’t anything but perfectly dry roads (keep in mind that the Goad Road is always covered in shade and therefore it can be wet from recent rains even if all the other roads are already dry) please don’t go, especially downhill. I am not sure if it is walkable with road shoes. I did walk the steepest of the steeper section on gravel SPD shoes and it was okayish.
The road that connects Dahu St. with Kangle St. is narrow, with a rough concrete surface covered in dead vegetation. Probably not a pleasant ride on a wet day. It also has some short steep parts.
Here my attempt at this route. I called it Giro because il Giro is ongoing now.